Being a Writer

This Week's Writing Prompt Challenge

 

Image by elvis santana 

 

This week's writing prompt challenge, due Sunday, June 27th, 2010

 

A priest is attacked for being a pedophile. He is innocent of the crime but guilty of something far worse.

 

Don't forget to enter. Remember...when you're finished writing your story based on this writing prompt, post it to your blog and then come back to this page and leave a comment along with a link to your story so that others can appreciate your talents and perhaps offer you some constructive criticism.

Good luck and I can't wait to see what you come up with! Happy writing.

All writer's prompts come from The Writer's Book of Matches.

One Word Writing Prompts

 

 

All Souls College, Oxford, England

Image by Ross Parker

 

Could you write a story based on a one word writing prompt?  Don’t be too hasty--and, perhaps, overconfident--in your answer. After all, some of the brightest students seeking admission to All Souls College (a division of renowned Oxford University) had trouble with this writing prompt.

Since 1932, All Souls College has included a one-word writing prompt essay (which was always a noun) as part of an entrance exam that has become known as the hardest exam in the world. This part of the exam was intended to showcase one’s mental agility. After all, if the potential student could write an exceptional essay from a one-word writing prompt, thought school officials, then his or her mental acumen must likewise be exceptional.

This one-word writing prompt, which the applicant had three-hours to build an essay around, was an exciting tradition at Oxford. In fact, according to New York Times reporter Sarah Lyall, “[t]he unveiling of the word was once an event of such excitement that even non-applicants reportedly gathered outside the college each year, waiting for news to waft out. Applicants themselves discovered the word by flipping over a single sheet of paper and seeing it printed there, all alone, like a tiny incendiary device.”

While some students considered this writing prompt a fun challenge, others (many others) developed major writer’s block (or stage fright) when confronted by this single word--whatever the word might be for that year.

And these were not your average students taking an admittance exam, either. Rather, they were the crème de la crème of near genius-level intellectuals from all over the world. Still…they choked on this one-word writing prompt.

Perhaps not surprisingly, then, All Souls College has recently discontinued the part of the exam that they call “Essay” because they feel that this one-word writing prompt exercise is not a true test of a potential student’s mental agility.

As writers, we might be tempted to scoff at the failure--and right down terror--of the many applicants who froze at writing an essay based on a one-word writing prompt. But would we have fared any better? Here are some of the words that past applicants had to struggle with in the Essay section of this exam:

· Charity

· Chaos

· Style

· Mercy

· Censorship

· Reproduction

· Novelty

How easily could you have written an essay, or a story, based on one of these one-word writing prompts? Think about it.

Writing the First Paragraph--the the Hardest Part of Writing

The hardest part of writing, for me, is writing the first paragraph of a prose piece. (This holds true whether or not I am writing fiction or nonfiction.)

I will struggle for hours over the beginning of an article or a short story--and I’m not exaggerating. If I can get that first paragraph right, everything else will flow from there. The trouble, of course, lies in getting that first paragraph right.

How do I do it? I can’t really say. I usually write the beginning of an article or a piece of fiction in my head first. Then I type it into a word document. Then the real fun begins.

I usually read and reread that opening paragraph a dozen or more times, think about it a bit (running alternate possibilities through my mind) then delete, write, edit, write, delete…

…you get the idea.

Sometimes I never get that first paragraph right. I have written short stories and articles with openings that still make me cringe. But I have never been able to come up with anything better to suit my tastes.

So I continue to struggle.

Do you have similar problem with writing openings and how do you surmount this problem?

How to End Writer’s Block

 

 
Image by Zsuzsanna Kilian
 

If you’re like most writers, how to end writer’s block is an ongoing issue. But we writers make this problem way bigger than it really is. We tend to think that our idea inkwell is dry when, in fact, writer’s block is not a dearth of ideas. It is trying too hard to access the wealth of ideas that swim around all day and night in our brains.

Ending writer’s block, therefore, is not a process of trying to think up ideas; it is a process of releasing the ideas that are within us. And the only way that you and I can do that is by relaxation.

Relaxing through Writer’s Block

It’s like forgetting someone’s name. When this happens, we desperately search for the answer that we know is in our memory banks somewhere. But the harder we try, the harder it is to remember that name.

Then later, while we’re doing or thinking about something else…

Voila!

That name, the one that we so frantically searched for earlier, just pops into our minds.

What happened?

We relaxed and let it come to us.

Your mind is like a computer. When you gave it the command to find that name, it started searching its hard drive (your brain) for the answer. It didn’t need any further help from you to do its job. But the minute you tried to speed it up by consciously making the effort to remember the name, you got in the way and slowed down the search. (That’s like giving your computer one command, then another, then another, then another…multiple commands slows down the search).

So what does this have to do with writer’s block? Simple. Trying too hard to think up creative ideas almost assures that you won’t think of many.

How to End Writer’s Block

It’s not than you don’t think--at all--about your creative work. If you’re devising a plot line or a narrative for your short story or novel, of course you have to think about it and plan it out--perhaps even write an outline. But if you are stuck on your hero or heroines next move, use these tips to get you unstuck and end writer’s block.

Limit your Creative Angst

So you want to get your fictional hero or heroine into a sticky situation, but not sure how? Start thinking about your story from every conceivable angle--but only for about 30-minutes to an hour. In this period of time, you have my permission to beat yourself up trying to think up a suitable storyline or idea. But when this period of time is over--let it go.

Go Somewhere Else--Mentally and/or Physically

Start cleaning the house, reading a book, or going for a walk (I have found that physical activity ends writer’s block like nothing else). While engaged in this activity, do not think about your creative problem at all. Just throw yourself into your activity. Have confidence that your subconscious mind is working on the answer to your problem and will have it for you soon.

While engaged in this activity, many ideas will likely spring into your mind. Jot them down in a notebook, then continue with your activity. Don’t think about these creative ideas just yet. Your subconscious mind is not done.

Start Writing

When you’re finished with your activity, sit down and start writing (whether or not any ideas popped into your mind during your creative time out session).  That’s right. Just start writing. I can stare at a blank page on my computer for hours with no ideas at all, but the minute that I start writing--that’s when the ideas start pouring in.

What should you write about? Well, anything that you write will help to prime your creative pump, but you should try to focus on the needs of your story or article.

But the important thing is to just start writing!

If you have any special tips that you have used to end writer’s block, share them here.

 

 

Writing Prompt for Week of May 17, 2010

Image by Jesse Miksic Today starts what I hope will be a long and successful run of weekly writing prompts taken from a fascinating book, The Writer's Book of Matches, designed to jump-start your creative juices. (Click here for an explanation of why I started this writing prompt assignment and what I hope that you and I can accomplish with it.)

The first writing prompt is an intriguing snipped of dialogue:

"Well, if you could accuse anybody of being downright evil, it would be him."

I will write a piece of fiction that is at least 500-words long and post it on my blog by next Sunday. May I challenge you to a writer's duel?

Alrighty, then...

Happy writing!